This 924 Carrera GTS Is A £200k+ Four-Cylinder Porsche

Nearly four years on from launching the controversially flat-cylinder 718 Boxster and Cayman, Porsche has seemingly caved. The GTS versions of each - available up until recently with 2.5-litre flat-fours - have been replaced with a couple of refreshed cars fitted with 4.0-litre flat-sixes.

Is this an admission that the four-pot 718s were something of a misjudgement? Perhaps, but today, we don’t want to debate that. Instead, we want to talk about a different four-cylinder Porsche which wore the GTS badge.

It’s the 924 Carrera GTS, a super-exclusive example of an already rare car. Based on the Carrera GT, of which 406 were built to homologate a car in the Le Mans GTP class for 1980, only 59 examples of the GTS were built.

It’s still instantly recognisable as a 924, but it’s wearing a much meaner suit. A new spoiler, front splitter and massive box arches were made, all made from lightweight polyurethane.

Under that bonnet with its fantastic scoop is a 2.0-litre inline-four sourced from the 924 Turbo, but with a new intercooler and a higher compression ratio increasing the power to 243bhp. Curiously, the GTS you see here is listed as having the same 281bhp output as the GTS Clubsport according to its Fahzeugbrief (registration document). A healthy amount of power for something weighing a little over 1100kg - 59kg less than a regular 924 Carrera GT.

The 1982 GTS was initially held back from sale by Porsche, during which time it covered around 8300 kilometres. Its second owner took the keys in 1983, and since then, it has seen a decent amount of use, now showing 24,148 on the clock.

It’s an undoubtedly special car, but it comes with a price tag to suit - when it goes under the hammer at RM Sotheby’s Paris sale next month, it’s estimated to fetch anywhere from €220,000 - €280,000. So, over £200k for a Porsche with four cylinders.

If you had the means, would you?